Monthly Archives: December 2011

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Muir’s 8-0 start is the best start in nearly two decades, but as to when exactly the Mustangs had their best start in school history is just that, a mystery.

Muir coach Gamal Stalley said it’s been a “really long time” since the Mustangs opened the season with eight consecutive wins, and its 6-0 start was its best in 16 years. Muir is coming off a win over Saugus last weekend to win the La Canada Tournament.

That the Mustangs, ranked No. 8 in the CIF polls, are playing well may not come as much as of a surprise considering they return 10 players from last year’s team that reached the Division 5AA title game.

That success moved Muir to Division 4AA, dubbed the “super division” because it includes powerhouse La Verne Lutheran, L.A. Price and Windward, among others. Early in the season, Smalley said “we might as well be playing the Lakers” after learning Muir was moved up a division. But success in Division 4AA is not farfetched especially the way Muir has played as of late.

Over the summer, Muir played Loyola and Orange Lutheran, two powerhouses that were nationally ranked in the preseason. Muir lost to Loyola by two and lost to Orange Lutheran on a buzzer beater.

“So we know we have something special this year,” Smalley said. “We have to find a way to remain consistent. We’re still trying to find our way, but it’s a good start, nonetheless.”

Muir is one of two teams (the other being Crespi at 7-0) to remain unbeaten among the 44 teams in Division 4AA.

Pasadena (3-5) went 1-3 in the prestigious St. Hope Elite Nike Classic, its lone win coming against Northern California’s Foothill, 63-39, in the opening round. What followed next is almost unexplainable.

Pasadena went toe-to-toe with Bakersfield, regarded as the best team in Kern County. Pasadena led 61-59 when the unthinkable happened.

“It’s crazy that we lost on a 60-foot bank shot,” Tucker said. Pasadena still advanced to the semifinals against Sacramento. A four-point game with two minutes left in the game and the Bulldogs suddenly check out, losing 87-79.

“There’s two minutes left and we can’t buy a basket down the stretch,” Tucker said.

A defensive break down with the game on the line in the fourth-place game and Pasadena loses to Pleasant Grove, 62-60 after an unguarded layup to win the game.

Pasadena was one of three L.A.-area teams taking part in the tournament along with L.A. Dorsey and Compton High, which didn’t fare any better than the Bulldogs. Tucker said the officiating was suspect at best. He pointed to forward Blake Hamilton, who averaged 23 points in the tournament, getting called for three fouls in the first two minutes of the game against Sacramento.

“It was borderline rediculous what they were calling,” Tucker said. “They were not L.A. friendly.”

Through the nightmareish weekend there still was a bit of good news. For one, center Brandon Jolley, who suffered a high ankle sprain two weeks before the start of the season, made his first appearance on the court and earned an all-tournament selection.

Jolley, a 6-foot-5 junior, did not play in the Rose City Classic where Pasadena made a run to the semifinals against La Verne Lutheran. Still, the Bulldogs managed to play Lutheran close in a 65-53 loss. Lutheran features several Division I-bound athletes as does L.A. Price, whom the Bulldogs lost to, 72-70.

“There’s definitely no panic on this campus,” Tucker said. “We’re definitely the best 3-5 team in the state. If you ask reporters up there they’ll say we’re really good, but we’re a little unlucky right now. I told the kids it’s not a bad thing to drop in the polls because of the teams we lost to.

“We could have easily won the tournament.Nobody has played the schedule we have played. We play the best teams and we don’t run from anybody. I really believe when the dust settles Pasadena will still be around standing.”

Pasadena is off until next week when it heads to San Diego to take part in the Mt. Carmel Tournament.

Arcadia star WR/SS Taylor Lagace has decommitted from Washington and will be headed to UCLA, according to sources. Lagace, a three-time Star-News All-Area first-team selection, was all but headed to Washington after making a verbal commitment late summer. The departure of Demetrice Martin (Muir grad) from Washington’s coaching staff to UCLA has caused a shift in some recruits, Lagace being the first to be on the fence and now making the switch. Martin was the defensive backs coach at Washington and will coach the same position at UCLA.

Notice the new color on Muir’s road uniforms? Out with the navy blue and in with the royal blue. For the Muir faithful who go back in the day, this color is nothing new. I’ll let Muir boys basketball coach Gamal Smalley explain.

“(Muir girls basketball coach) Gary Johnson and myself were the starting back court in the 70’s and the color blue that we wore was royal blue,” Smalley said. “We went back to royal blue because we thought it would be cool. The gym is royal blue and the bleachers are royal blue. Some where in time someone changed it to navy blue, but every year Muir has won a CIF championship has been in royal blue, so we had to take it back to when Muir was successful.”

The Muir girls team also will wear royal blue unis.

So now you know.

Muir’s 8-0 start is its best start in over two decades. The Mustangs are one of two remaining undefeated teams among the 44 in CIF-SS Division 4AA. Crespi is the other undefeated team. Muir is No. 8 in what many consider Division 4AA as the super division.

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